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Sustainable Forestry

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Abstract As a response to the quickly depleting forest resources in the United Kingdom, MarriottHotels & Resorts, with their branch in London, has adopted an initiative to promote sustainableforestry through their facilities and services. With the help of advertising, public relations, word-of-mouth and social media marketing, Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI), being a corporationthat serves as the information and solutions resource for the whole project, aims to promoteMarriott’s involvement in this shift towards a more environment-friendly chain of hotels. Part ofSFI’s strategy for Marriott would be to build partnerships with airline companies who wouldlikewise be interested in decreasing their ecological footprint. By doing so, Marriott would notonly be given a loyal set of clients, but also credibility for their other regular customers and, ofcourse, a good environmental image. Vivian Espinosa vivian.espinosa@ieseg.fr Therese Yvan Larroza tere_larroza@yahoo.com Emeline Legay emeline.legay@ieseg.fr Marie Sophie Patois marie-sophie.patois@ieseg.fr Fleur Pichat fleur.pichat@ieseg.fr Anna Marieta Rellama annamarieta.rellama@ieseg.fr

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F A L L 2 0 1 1 Environmental Marketing Sustainable Forestry An Initiative to promote Marriott Hotel’s Eco-friendliness! IESEG This paper was prepared by Espinsosa, Vivian Larroza, Therese Yvan Legay, Emeline Patois, Marie Sophie Pichat, Fleur Rellama, Anna Marieta What is a Sustainable Forest? Sustainable Forestry Initiative A sustainable forest is a forest that is carefully in partnership with managed so that as trees are felled they are replaced with Marriott Hotels seedlings that eventually grow into mature trees. This is a Hotel Engineering Association carefully and skilfully managed system. The forest is a The Local Government of London working environment, producing wood products such as Under the guidance of wood pulp for the paper / card industry and wood based materials for furniture manufacture and the construction David Fitzgerald industry. Great care is taken to ensure the safety of Professor, Environmental Marketing wildlife and to preserve the natural environment. IESEG School of Management Source: Ryan, V. What is a Sustainable Forest. 2007. <http://www.technologystudent.com/prddes1/susenv1.html>Save the Date!Fun Run 2012 Tree-planting Activity07/01/2012 04/02/2012Join us in one of our 3k, 5k, Help sustain our forests by10k or triathlon races! Prices planting your own tree! Get ato be given away! chance to label your tree as well!

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21 ENVIRONMENTAL MARKETING FALL 2011 Sustainable Forestry The destruction of our forests has become an issue that is nowadays causing struggles. It is important to look out for it because of three reasons: ones is our responsibility towards biodiversity; second is for resource saving and lastly, for the overall environmental health and human survival. If these motives are well thought of and considered, an environmental, economic and social well-being can be attained, thus reducing the effects of climate change. Europe has a lot of forest areas which need care. Pictured below are the percentages of woodland in each European country. It can be observed that Finland and Sweden are the countries with more green areas, occupying more than half of the territory, while other countries, such as Portugal, Spain, Norway, Germany, Italy, Poland and France are all in a similar percentage between 25 and 40 percent of green areas. The United Kingdom, however, is the country with the least woodland area beneath all, with only 13 percent of its overall territory occupied by forests. In line with this, the UK has expressed great concern for their woodlands. Just to give you a picture of how it is, the forest area in the UK as of 31 March 2011 is of 3.1 million hectares (forestry.gov.uk). Recently, the UK has created and implemented policies to promote sustainable forestry in the country. Some of these policies include taking action like: ü Doing international efforts to combat illegal logging; ü Creating government requirements to source timber products from legal and sustainable sources; ü Planning forest restoration programs; ü Asking for certification of forest management and delivery of certified wood to marketplaces; ü Encouraging development by the UK forest industries of a sustainability strategy; In line with all these, we have decided to focus our project on sustainable forestry efforts in the UK. 3

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21 ENVIRONMENTAL MARKETING FALL 2011 Why sustainable forestry? Why Marriott Hotel? According to the World Tourism Canada, etc. The reputation of this hotel is great Organization, “ecotourism is the fastest for our campaign and permits us to make a lot growing market in the tourism industry, of people aware of our causes. Furthermore, we growing at a rate of 5% worldwide and want to have an impact on the airline crew representing over 11% of all consumer because they will be the ones to convey our spending”. This new trend, as they say, is sustainable goals to many people all around the representative of the world evolution. It is really world—that is, a global word-of-mouth. important for our campaign, therefore, to follow Moreover, Marriott aims to be more eco- this trend and to use it to make people aware friendly with their new objectives for this year. about sustainable forestry. According to Marriott’s website, their strategy Moreover, we can see that “more than for contributing to environmental conservation 46 percent of the companies in the hotel for this year is as follows: “With an increase in industry collaborate with suppliers, customers global travel comes corporate responsibility for to achieve sustainable objectives,” thus the hotel mitigating our business impact on the natural segmentation is the right segment to our environment. Both in our hotels and beyond, campaign. Indeed, hotels have the desire to be we seek to understand and act on the direct and eco-friendly and want to make financial effort to indirect environmental impacts of our business achieve this goal. “Some 66 percent of industry operations.” players are looking to increase their post- Their main objectives are: recession sustainability budgets over the next 12 months, with only 5 percent looking to decrease them.” Reduce Invest in Why Marriott hotel? energy and Create green innovative Educate water construction conservation associates Marriott Hotels is an consumption standards for initiatives and gests to internationally-known chain of by 25 percent hotel including support the hotels. It welcomes a lot of business per available developers rainforest environment room protection travelers and it currently has a lot of partnerships with flight companies all around the world like Air France, Air China, Singapore Airlines, Air 4

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ENVIRONMENTAL MARKETING FALL 2011Why Marriott Hotel?Location We may have mentioned before that our targetwould be the United Kingdom, but seeing that thisscope is still too big, we have decided to target theMarriott at the center of London. Indeed, according tothe non-profit international Ecotourism society “morethan two-thirds of U.S. and Australian travelers, and90% of British tourists, consider active protection ofthe environment and support of local communities tobe part of a hotel’s responsibility”. British tourists arereally sensible when it comes to sustainability, thus, we think that it would be beneficial to our campaign.Our Indirect Targets Airline companies • Pilots • Air Canada • Air hostess • Air France • Singapore Airlines Flight Marriott attendants Targeting Marriott hotel permits us to target indirectly airline companies because of its severalpartnerships. This is vital especially since we want to have an impact on bigger companies like AirCanada, Air France, Singapore Airlines so they can reach to more people as well. This is directlylinked with the fact that we want to also target the flight attendants who stayed or will be staying inMarriott hotel. If we achieve in making them aware of our causes, they will convey our values as well,thereby ending up as parts of this environmental movement too. It is also a great way for companiesto be eco-friendly especially for airlines as their environmental footprint is relatively high. The following are our variables for the flight attendants market: Demographic Geographic Psychographic Behavioral frequent stay in 22- retirement UK- London Dynamic people Marriott hotel Short and long flights male and female to and from London actors of change loyal to Marriott hotel air hostess nomadic lifestyle not price sensitive pilots 5

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12 ENVIRONMENTAL MARKETING FALL 2011 The Stakeholder Network: who takes care of which? For the purpose of this study, the group has welfare and image of the country that they are identified an exhaustive list of potential in. Because of their power over most people, stakeholders and from such list were driven the their main contribution would be to give eight most important ones that would hopefully credibility to our initiative. That is, if they cover all the dimensions of the study. These are: support it. • Sustainable Forestry Initiative or SFI The second group of stakeholders, more (the company that we are representing); commonly known as the lead users, plays a vital • The local government of London, role in the initiative, as they are the ones who’d England; be keeping the fire burning. They are the ones • The tourist authorities; responsible for the spread of word-of-mouth, • The forest authorities; and they eventually become the determinants of • Marriott Hotels; the overall success of the campaign. What • The Airline companies; motivates this group, as opposed to the opinion leaders, ranges from personal reasons such as • The Hotel Engineering Association; and money and personal missions to company • The community. goals. Included in this group are the These were further divided into three, each community, Marriott Hotels, the Hotel being identified as an opinion leader, a lead user Engineering Association (HEA), the airline or a network facilitator. companies and the crew that comes with it. Opinion leaders, as the name suggests, are Last but not the least is the network those who have a strong say on what happens in facilitator, that is, the group that regulates the a certain area or not. They are the influencers— progress of the whole initiative, the one who the first-movers. If one needs an idea spread protects the idea and makes sure that it does not out, therefore, it is best if you let it through fall into the wrong hands, the group that, as the these groups as doing this will most likely yield name suggests, facilitates the undertaking of the you with the most optimized results. whole initiative. For this study, we have Stakeholders belonging to this group include the decided to put just one group under this government and the tourism authorities. category, our company, Sustainable Forestry As it can be observed, what mainly Initiative, to be specific, for the reasons motivates these opinion leaders is the overall mentioned above. Group Role Motivation Network Contribution • Government Opinion leaders • Promotion of sustainable • Establishes credibility. • Tourism Authorities forestry ethics in the • Regulates. • Forest Authorities community. • Sets the restrictions. • Better country statistics • Lighter ecological footprint • Community Lead users • High credibility of their • Decision-makers • Marriott Hotels information sources. • Fire-starters • Hotel Engineering • To save the environment. • Word-of-mouth Association • To save money • Airline companies • Sustainable Forestry Network facilitator • Promotion of sustainable • Initiator. Initiative Information and forestry ethics in the • Facilitator. solutions resource community. • Makes it all possible. • The know-how. 6

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21 ENVIRONMENTAL MARKETING FALL 2011 Marketing Plan Marketing Objectives In order to be able to provide a marketing plan that will be well adapted to the situation, we need to know some information about Marriott, particularly its reputation. On average, the websites that offer the customers to give a grade to Marriott hotels display a grade of four points on five—a relatively waste and reduce the quantity of waste produced good grade thanks its service quality and each year. Marriott aims at conserving the energy facilities. Firstly, customers are satisfied by the in terms of heating and light with new systems cleanliness of the hotels. Being one of the main and materials that helps to reach this goal like points that determine if customers are willing to energy-saving light-bulbs and re-evaluated stay or come back again, it has a huge impact on automatic time switches. The new way of any hotel’s reputation. Customers are also purchasing also needs highlighting: Marriott satisfied when it comes to the accommodation tends to buy biological and local food and to use facilities and the high level of service that new eco-friendly cleaning products. Moreover, Marriott offers. Among these services are the living environment on the whole has been restaurants, swimming pools, activities for changed into something more profitable for children, beauty shops, the housekeeping service, environmental sustainability. The furniture, the the limousine service and some other different decoration items, the towels and the soap are services, all promoting relaxation, thus making some objects that are now recyclable or come the customers’ journey easier. Customers also from firms that respect the rules of producing in appreciate Marriott’s locations as it is each time an environment-friendly way, for example. Because of the link between Marriott and well adapted to the place where the hotel is Sustainable Forestry Initiative, we intend to focus on settled. If it is in a big town, Marriott would be some measures that concern sustainable forestry located in the center of the town. If it is on the directly. The majority of furniture in Marriott hotels seacoast, the Marriott hotel would directly be on now comes from sustainable forests, as do some items the beach, just to provide examples. Finally, like towels. The hotels are SFI accredited. This customers grade the company considering a last accreditation is given by the SFI after a checking of but not the least important aspect: the price. In the different measures taken by some of its members general, customers are willing to pay more to or partners. Having this accreditation allows Marriott obtain a high quality of services and quality of to put the logo of SFI in its hotels to show customers a life. That is the case for Marriott hotels; the price proof of its engagement for the sustainability of the has been well-adapted to their positioning and environment. Moreover, Marriott hotels follow the guidelines settled by the EHS (Environment, Health people don’t mind about that. and Safety), that is, a set of guidelines which were As it can be observed, Marriott seems well created by the International Finance Corporation. It appreciated for some reasons but none about the provides a list of the different measures to take to be eco-friendly measures it recently took. respectful towards the environment and to take care of We want people to know the company the safety and health in different situations as well. took some measures that are respectful towards Our goal is to make customers aware about the environment. Marriott has reconsidered its Marriott’s involvement with respect to the water management in order to reduce the environment. We hope that with this campaign, they quantity used and to recycle it if possible. As for would be more interested in going to Marriott not just the waste, it has reconsidered its waste because of its high quality service and facilities, but management and settled a new system to sort also its friendliness towards the environment. 7

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21 ENVIRONMENTAL MARKETING FALL 2011 and purchase green products. In the study, it Positioning was found that almost 90% of respondents said they would pay more to eat at a green London Marriott Hotel is under the restaurant, and one third said they would pay management of Marriott® International, a up to 12% more. From a marketing worldwide operator and franchisor of a broad perspective, this means that ‘going green’ is a portfolio of hotels and related lodging facilities. viable and profitable differentiating factor. As a brand, it is growing globally, embracing change and satisfying guests in 70 countries and According to the Cornell study, territories. The brand is currently known for its consumers, particularly companies and luxury offerings, up to date hospitality-related individuals having higher income, higher technology and warm hospitality. education demographic, continue to be concerned about the environmental impact of With the green initiative, London their company’s and their own behavior Marriot Hotel will be positioned as an regardless of their reasons and motivations. environmental-friendly hotel who allows their Their behavior extends to the businesses they guests which consists of companies, investors, patronize. This represents an opportunity for corporate owners, associates and private London Marriott Hotel to use the Sustainable consumers reduce their ecological footprint. Forestry Initiative aspects of their operations to draw in valuable customers. The Cornell study shows that consumers are willing to support and patronize such responsible behavior. The Luxurious chain of hotels around the world next step is to effectively market the SFI Global and open to Warm hospitality and aspects of Marriott Hotel’s operations and to change new technologies launch a marketing campaign featuring the hotel’s environmental and green move. An environment friendly hotel Help corporations and consumers reduce their ecological footprint In the past few years, environmental initiatives were trending in hospitality industry. There were a lot of hotels ‘going green’ and executing ‘sustainability’ campaigns. However, as the recession happened, hospitality marketing’s focus shifted from emphasizing environmental awareness and initiatives to emphasizing value. However, a study by Cornell University (2010) demonstrates that consumers didn’t forget about environmental concerns during the recession; in fact, they are increasingly willing to pay a premium to patronize green restaurants 8

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ENVIRONMENTAL MARKETING FALL 2011 Communication Objectives  Inform at least 65 percent of the target market about the pressing environmental issues (global and in the chain of hotels) and the positive impact and benefits of the initiative in Marriott hotels within one year.  Increase the proportion of the target market who have positive attitudes towards the initiative  Reduce the proportion of the target market who have misunderstandings and misconceptions about the costs  The biggest advertising investments are in business sectors that represent a large portion of the individual ecological footprint: food, transport, energy  Example: Airline Industry  The position they hold and the influence they have over consumers give them an undeniable responsibility. This industry consumer a lot of non-renewable energy in their operations. There is always the danger that their operations create substantial adverse consequences for the environment and society. This fact is known publicly, thus, they need to take steps towards reversing their ecological footprint. Conversely, they can inspire and orient positive changes in behavior if they continue their partnership with London Marriott, a green hotel.  Take advantage of the partnership with airline companies.  Partnering with an airline company who would want to publicize their relationship with a green hotel such as Marriott will give the hotel an opportunity to penetrate its communication channels which includes the airline company’s website, inflight magazines, etc. The values attached to the idea of sustainable development are now deeply rooted in socialand regulatory attitudes, and Marriott needs to communicate to their clients (corporations andindividuals) that they are there to help them realize the problem and implement their initiatives in arational way. 9

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21 The Promotions Mix As it is part of the promotions mix, Marriott’s hotels in the airports of airlines; advertising will be used in order to increase the The availability of in-flight magazines awareness of Marriott hotel’s involvement in endorsing the Marriott chain of hotels for environmental actions. For this study, we will use travelers; different channels to achieve this objective: Radio: All our advertisements will be The airlines’ websites; channeled through BBC Radio 2, one of the Upon booking, a client will have the main stations in the United Kingdom and possibility to tick a Marriott booking the most popular one with 13.7 million option at the end of his flight booking; listeners. The sending and emailing about the Magazines: The most popular ones were closest Marriott hotel according to the selected to maximize reach. Examples of customer’s destination after a flight which are « The Daily Telegraph » booking and, more innovatively, the publishing 843 000 copies and « The sending of SMS. Indeed, SMS was Times » publishing 617 000 copies in order adopted by the youngest and 56% of to inform the largest amount of English people aged more than 40 years are using people. Moreover, we decided to publish it. It’s an innovative tool of ads about the Marriott’s hotels and their communication as it was for the email 10 green initiative in a more targeted magazine years ago. This tool has a high reading such as « The Economist » providing 102 rate (90%), it’s used by all, involves high million copies per publication. memorization, a high reactivity of the Internet: Advertisement in the form of target, and a quicker setting than emailing. banners will be placed on specialized With consent from the airline companies, their customer database will be used to websites such as www.theecologist.org appropriate our services to different which gets an audience of 95 000 persons customers (with a box ticking system at per month. the end of the flight booking to allow Marriott’s hotels to use data such as phone For the public relations aspect of the numbers or e-mail addresses). promotions mix, journalists from “The Economist” (1,2 million copies) and the Regarding the other promotional methods, “Environment Industry Magazine” (30 000 copies) we plan to redesign the existing Marriott website will be asked for public releases about Marriott’s focusing on environmental issues and well-being of customers. In the same way, we will develop hotels and especially their green initiatives in order Marriott accounts on social networking sites such to stress awareness and increase credibility. as Facebook, Twitter, FriendFeed and LinkedIn. Indeed, nowadays, websites have been overtaken The group then thought of establishing by social media as it is considered as a good partnerships with United Kingdom bound airlines means to collect consumers’ data, increase the 2.0 to promote Marriott’s eco-friendly actions in visibility, and demonstrate the credibility and the exchange of special offers provided for flight expertise of Marriott’s hotels, the exchange of attendants. This initiative will be based on: behaviors and mutual aids. The publication of visual ads and posters of